This document specifies a real-time PCR procedure for the quantitation of the amount of roe deer DNA relative to total mammalian DNA in meat and meat products.
Results of this roe deer assay are expressed in terms of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) haploid genome copy numbers relative to total mammalian haploid genome copy numbers. The content of roe deer can also be expressed as mass fraction in % using gravimetrically prepared calibration material from meat mixtures or model samples.
The method has been previously validated in a collaborative study and applied to DNA extracted from samples that consist of raw roe deer meat in a raw pig meat background as well as raw and boiled sausages.
The limit of detection of the roe deer PCR has been determined experimentally to be at least 5 target gene copies or at least 0,1 % roe deer.
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